TSW get 2018 campaign off to a flying start against Essex
FOR their first game of 2018, Team South Wales (TSW) Volleyball played at their home base at the Cardiff Metropolitan University Cyncoed campus.
Having trained well, the team felt fit and ready to test Team Essex, for which Esme Newman, a former TSW player appeared.
Essex was a team TSW had not yet played, which left the Welsh squad very excited.
Coaches Jose Castro and Manuel Santos had been very content with the way the team had trained after the holidays, so the current game would be a test of the team’s progression.
Team South Wales has also had the pleasure of welcoming two new players; Aspa Sia, a former Cardiff Falcons player now joins Sophie Watts as libero, and Freja Foot, a setter from one of TSW’s junior squads.
They both debuted on court against Essex, and both did brilliantly.
The first set started well with the scoreboard showing equal progression until 8-8, and both teams trying to feel each other’s game.
Then Essex seemed to have outsmarted the Welsh team and began to hammer down the ball on the Welsh side; everything seemed to work well up.
TSW saw the team from Essex winning point after point, allowing a 9-17 gap to appear.
However, they kept their cool, and with two service series from Julia Constantinou and Marinka van Bergen the defense of Essex seemed easier to break.
Powerful hits from wing player Dani Webb-Porto and middle player Mia Schmidt-Hansen sealed the deal, and pulled the first set back to the Welsh side at 25-21,
Setter Mara Mata’s confidence in providing excellent set-ups to her attackers really showed in the second set.
With fast balls on the outside position, wing player Julia Constantinou finished off a good few rallies, whilst offsetter Marinka van Bergen found gaps with clever tips and powerful hits.
Even the more difficult ‘slide’ attacks over middle were executed well and yielded a number of points.
Simultaneously the defence, led invariably by Aspa Sia or Sophie Watts, was dynamic and well positioned.
So the second set was won easily by the Welsh team with a 25-16 score.
The third set started off with a relaxed Team South Wales and the scores went up equally.
To spice things up a bit, Jose Castro brought Elisa on court playing on the wing position, Aggie Kozlovska on middle, and Freja Foot on the setter position.
This allowed Mara Mata to score as an attacker for the first time in a long time, which was celebrated, bringing the spirits back up, and unleashing new energy.
With a clever attack causing the ball to go out via the block, Julia Constantinou finished the game off with a comfortable 25-20 set score to TSW.
The next game is scheduled at 2pm on Saturday February 10th on in the Archers Arena of Cardiff Met’s Cyncoed campus.